Together with the Lord Mayor of Essen Thomas Kufen, the Lord Mayor of Duisburg Sören Link, the Head of the Department of Law and Order of the City of Dortmund Norbert Dahmen, the President of the General Customs Directorate Colette Hercher and the President of the Federal Police Directorate Sankt Augustin Andreas Jung, Minister Herbert Reul signed the cooperation agreement on the "Ruhr Security Cooperation to Combat Clan Crime" ("SiKo Ruhr") on June 22, 2020.
"This cooperation networks authorities, collects information and sets priorities. It increases the pressure, but also shows ways out of the milieu. In this project, which is unique in Germany, the desks are being pushed together in order to cut off criminal clans in the Ruhr metropolitan region and find new approaches," said Reul.
The new inter-agency office based in Essen consists of representatives from the state police, Ruhr region municipalities, customs authorities and the federal police. It collects and pools information, develops recommendations and joint strategies. The fight against clan crime is one of the priorities of the North Rhine-Westphalian police.
The project is being implemented as part of the state government's Ruhr Conference. "I am particularly pleased that we are pursuing a common goal here in which party politics play no role," said Reul.
"The city of Essen is already working closely and successfully with the police, customs and tax investigation authorities. Our joint efforts against clan crime - combined with the strategy of pinpricks - have proven their worth. I am therefore delighted that with today's agreement we are creating the basis for the 'Ruhr Security Cooperation to Combat Clan Crime'. We need this network because the criminal clans also operate in a network - nationally and even internationally. Our joint work is based on the principle of desks pushed together. I very much hope that other players will join us. Building on our respective structures, we will pool our knowledge and experience, generate new synergy effects and develop new prevention options together," says Essen's Lord Mayor Thomas Kufen.
"We have been dealing with this topic in Duisburg for a long time. For example, we were the first municipality in North Rhine-Westphalia to set up a task force on problem properties in order to break up criminal structures across different authorities. Due to the positive experiences of this cooperation, we have supported the SiKo Ruhr project from the very beginning and have agreed to participate. I am convinced that we already have a lot of knowledge about criminal clans. We just need to bring them together and network better. This will succeed with SiKo Ruhr," says Duisburg's Lord Mayor Sören Link.
"The city of Dortmund has been working closely and successfully with the police and customs authorities for several years in the fight against clan crime. The pooling of different specialist and operational skills in a permanent structure makes the Ruhr Security Conference a pioneering project throughout Germany. We are grateful to be able to collaborate and shape joint strategies to improve security in our cities as a municipal partner right from the start," says Norbert Dahmen, Head of the City of Dortmund's Department of Law and Order.
The President of the General Customs Directorate Colette Hercher: "Customs is happy to be involved in SiKo Ruhr. That shows: The federal and state governments are always close when it comes to effectively combating crime."
"The peaceful coexistence of people needs our functioning constitutional state. The clan milieu rejects our legal system and sometimes deliberately operates outside our legal order. With this inter-agency and trusting cooperation, we are sending a clear signal for the protection of our legal system and the safety of the people in North Rhine-Westphalia," said Andreas Jung, President of the federal police authority responsible for NRW.
The department also takes preventative action. Together with educators, social workers and scientists, drop-out programs and models are to be developed to show children and young people ways out of the clan milieu. An initial, promising approach is the preventative program "Kurve kriegen" (Turn the corner). Here, access to children from criminal clan families has been found in several locations in the Ruhr region. Social workers and language mediators work together with the police here.
The fact that the parents of these clan families have agreed to take part in "Kurve kriegen" is an initial success. The fact that the participants accept the offers and get involved in preventative measures - such as social skills training - is a second. "These are small steps, but we are venturing into completely new territory here and conducting basic research in a very difficult environment. But at least we are sowing seeds. And we hope to reap the harvest at some point. What I promise: we will not let up on this point, no matter how difficult it is," said Reul.
Background on the Ruhr Conference
The Ruhr Conference is a comprehensive initiative of the state government to shape the Ruhr region as an economically strong and liveable future region for all people. From the outset, the process of developing the Ruhr as a region of opportunity has been designed for broad participation and the involvement of people and partners from all areas of society. The aim is to provide important impetus for the further development of the Ruhr region in five central fields of action: Networked mobility - short distances; Successful economy - good work; Lively diversity - strong cohesion; Secure energy - healthy environment and Best education - excellent research.
Implementation of the 74 developed and selected projects began at the start of 2020. In the coming years, further projects and ideas from partners such as local authorities, chambers of industry and commerce, chambers of skilled trades and companies under the umbrella of the Ruhr Conference will strengthen this momentum and support the development of the Ruhr Region of Opportunity.
Further information on the Ruhr Conference: http://www.ruhr-konferenz.nrw